Kravchuk reaffirms position on CIS Charter (01/24/93)

Kravchuk reaffirms position on CIS Charter

by Borys Klymenko
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYYIV - Ukraine's President Leonid Kravchuk underlined that, in accordance with a resolution of Parliament, his principal task as president is "to strengthen the legal foundations of his independent state as an object of international law and not to allow the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to be transformed into some kind of state entity with its own organs of power and authority."

That is why, he said at a press conference after returning from a January 15 summit meeting in Moscow with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the proposed CIS Charter "does not satisfy the needs of Ukraine and, from a legislative point of view, it cannot be signed." This, he emphasized "is our position - expressed concisely and clearly."

However, Ukraine's chief executive noted that his country is proposing adoption, within the CIS framework, of an economic agreement, the details of which will be presented by Ukraine's delegation to the next CIS meeting in Minsk on January 22.

President Kravchuk told reporters that, "as a result of the haste with which certain leaders of CIS member-states act on certain political questions concerning the CIS, the Ukrainian populace has become divided into distinct groups," based on their opinions of the proposed Commonwealth Charter. He said he considered both those who demand immediate ratification of the CIS Charter (for example, members of the former Communist Party of Ukraine), and those who demand Ukraine's immediate withdrawal from the CIS to be extremists.

Responding to questions regarding the possibility of a parliamentary crisis precipitated by the threatened resignation of those deputies who belonged to the Communist Party before it was outlawed in Ukraine, President Kravchuk said, "Truly, the situation in the Parliament has become acute. But I would not like to see it end in a crisis." He continued, "The deputies should understand that today, in the political climate that exists, any step in this or that direction will divide both the deputies themselves and the nation."

The president reminded his listeners that when he was chairman of the Parliament he had attempted to put the issue of the ban on the CPU on the agenda, but was supported by only 52 deputies. Now, in keeping with the Constitution, "this question must be raised before the Constitutional Court." Commenting on the social unrest being fomented in Sevastopil by representatives of the Russian Federation's Parliament, President Kravchuk stated: "We will not react once again, as we have already registered our protest. We will not discuss the question of Sevastopil with anybody. By discussing this matter, the Supreme Council of Russia is making claims on our territory."

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The Washington Post reported that during his meeting with President Kravchuk, President Yeltsin offered Ukraine security guarantees against nuclear or conventional attack once Ukraine's Parliament ratifies START I and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Also as a result of the presidents' meeting, it was agreed that Ukraine and Russia would sign a separate agreement on how to dismantle and destroy nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory.

President Kravchuk told reporters in Moscow he thought Ukraine's Parliament would now act to ratify the START pact. "We will be able to argue for this document in Parliament, and deputies, without doubt, will confirm their earlier decision (of July 1990) on the non-nuclear status of our state," he said.

In other developments, the prime ministers of the two largest successor states to the USSR reached agreement on increasing oil shipments from Russia to Ukraine from 110 million barrels to 145 million to help keep Ukraine's factories and oil refineries operating. However, this still is short of the 330 million barrels Ukraine needs from Russia this year, reported The Washington Post.

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